lacrossegc
12-08 05:28 PM
A thought came to mind for those still not convinced on this
Think of this IV drive as an opportunity to SAVE on future payments to USCIS.
All those "enjoying" Interim benefits will likely be shelling out atleast $350 every yr for renewals of EAD, AP (if you apply yourself) considerable more if you go through a lawyer... for those still on H1 ... you'll be spending on H1 renewals, travel to counsulates, Visa reciporocal fees etc etc
The wait time for the final Green card approval for those with more recent Priority dates with no changes could be anywhere from 3-4 yrs....
So conservatively you would be spending 4* 350 = $1400
Think about it.... what if IV's drive for changes is successful in lobbying for better provisions which reduce OUR wait times even if by a little bit ... lets say ... by one yr .... YOU would INSTANTLY SAVE $350 ... and it multiplies for every year you save waiting for the final approval.
Lets say you contributed $100 today and you saved 1 yr in wait time ...
YOUR Profit is $250 on a $100 contribution in 3 yrs
atleast 250% returns in 3 yrs .... Can any stock market/bond or CDs match that rate of return
Contribute now so that IV can make that profit for YOU
Think of this IV drive as an opportunity to SAVE on future payments to USCIS.
All those "enjoying" Interim benefits will likely be shelling out atleast $350 every yr for renewals of EAD, AP (if you apply yourself) considerable more if you go through a lawyer... for those still on H1 ... you'll be spending on H1 renewals, travel to counsulates, Visa reciporocal fees etc etc
The wait time for the final Green card approval for those with more recent Priority dates with no changes could be anywhere from 3-4 yrs....
So conservatively you would be spending 4* 350 = $1400
Think about it.... what if IV's drive for changes is successful in lobbying for better provisions which reduce OUR wait times even if by a little bit ... lets say ... by one yr .... YOU would INSTANTLY SAVE $350 ... and it multiplies for every year you save waiting for the final approval.
Lets say you contributed $100 today and you saved 1 yr in wait time ...
YOUR Profit is $250 on a $100 contribution in 3 yrs
atleast 250% returns in 3 yrs .... Can any stock market/bond or CDs match that rate of return
Contribute now so that IV can make that profit for YOU
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s416504
12-04 09:40 AM
Thanks Ashkam & Sledge_hammer for sharing valuable information
Winner
04-21 02:26 PM
This is a grey area subject to interpretations. Talk to an Anttorney - the reason I say this is - when your 485 gets denied wrongfully (your Attorney will tell you if the REASON was wrongful) - say AC21 old employer revoke 140 after 180 days - then an MOTIC whould resolve your issue - which typically takes a few weeks to 2 months or a bit more. Whether you stay here or work here - it is the same - no "Particular status". Once your MOTIC gets approved, you are back in status - so it is a big grey area subject to interpretation and Attorneys have different views based on how conservative one wants to be.
If you are sure your 485 can get denied for a "right reason" - then MTR or Appeal may not work - so you have to work out other options.
Thanks Chandu. I'm not in this situation right now, but my comany is trying to force me to use my EAD instead of renewing my H1B, so I'm just looking for some vaild reasons which I can present them and request them to renew my H1B.
If you are sure your 485 can get denied for a "right reason" - then MTR or Appeal may not work - so you have to work out other options.
Thanks Chandu. I'm not in this situation right now, but my comany is trying to force me to use my EAD instead of renewing my H1B, so I'm just looking for some vaild reasons which I can present them and request them to renew my H1B.
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visa_reval
12-12 11:34 AM
This is a good doc to help you get started in correcting your I-94.
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milind70
07-24 08:37 PM
Hello,
I have an unfortunate situation. My parents names are misspelled in the Birth certificate compared to the Passport parents name page. Do we need to submit the parents names page of the passport when we submit our documents for 485 ?? Please let me know if this will be a problem and if there is a work around for this ??
Also if I have a Birth certificate (with my actual full name - dated in 2007 though), do I need to submit the affidavits ??
Thanks
It would be better to get affidavits from your parents ,if u submit without affidavits u might get a RFE and this might delaying your process.
I have an unfortunate situation. My parents names are misspelled in the Birth certificate compared to the Passport parents name page. Do we need to submit the parents names page of the passport when we submit our documents for 485 ?? Please let me know if this will be a problem and if there is a work around for this ??
Also if I have a Birth certificate (with my actual full name - dated in 2007 though), do I need to submit the affidavits ??
Thanks
It would be better to get affidavits from your parents ,if u submit without affidavits u might get a RFE and this might delaying your process.
GCtrouble
09-25 09:53 PM
Hello,
I am in serious trouble. Sometime ago I tried to switch my I-140 from EB3 to EB2. Now I get NOID to deny 140. Something related to prevailing wage (lawyer has actual letter). In my LC the offered wage was OK for EB3 but low for EB2. Lawyer says he'll try to reinstate EB3, but not sure. Has any one of you been able to reinstate EB3 140? Please help...
I am in serious trouble. Sometime ago I tried to switch my I-140 from EB3 to EB2. Now I get NOID to deny 140. Something related to prevailing wage (lawyer has actual letter). In my LC the offered wage was OK for EB3 but low for EB2. Lawyer says he'll try to reinstate EB3, but not sure. Has any one of you been able to reinstate EB3 140? Please help...
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WeShallOvercome
07-23 04:11 PM
No responses :(
Can someone tell exactly how an FP notice looks?
Can someone tell exactly how an FP notice looks?
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Adam
08-26 11:42 AM
I spent about 15 minutes the other night trying to make C3-PO smilie to go with :rd: I found it tough if you wanna give it a shot.
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needhelp!
03-14 04:25 PM
Infact I know one Texas member who has contributed a percentage of his tax return last year, and will be doing it again.
BTW.. please explain what is this $600 rebate? I already filed my taxes myself, and maybe I missed this.
BTW.. please explain what is this $600 rebate? I already filed my taxes myself, and maybe I missed this.
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GCNirvana007
09-10 11:37 PM
Well VXG,
I know what you are saying about Biometrics...both of our biometrics were done at the same time ....in any case I can't challenge my attorney especially one which is the largest in Boston...we will wait for the FP and then bug him again...at least she is current next month too........
Well good luck with Lawrence Infopass.....strange place no parking ...had to park by a No parking sign where every other car was parked....the office is lush such a waste of public money.....and absolutely useless chaps....actually if I had got my lawyer;s mail an hour back I may not have made that long trip.....
Well Boston USCIS is no better we have experience over there too couple of years back....
Will have to go there again..not sure if Lawrence has Biometrics facility or not....
OOOOOOOOFFFFFFFfffff how much more can I bear..................
SoP
:p See what you got to deal with marriage, i am TOTALLY kidding
I know what you are saying about Biometrics...both of our biometrics were done at the same time ....in any case I can't challenge my attorney especially one which is the largest in Boston...we will wait for the FP and then bug him again...at least she is current next month too........
Well good luck with Lawrence Infopass.....strange place no parking ...had to park by a No parking sign where every other car was parked....the office is lush such a waste of public money.....and absolutely useless chaps....actually if I had got my lawyer;s mail an hour back I may not have made that long trip.....
Well Boston USCIS is no better we have experience over there too couple of years back....
Will have to go there again..not sure if Lawrence has Biometrics facility or not....
OOOOOOOOFFFFFFFfffff how much more can I bear..................
SoP
:p See what you got to deal with marriage, i am TOTALLY kidding
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trueguy
08-04 06:12 PM
Nopes. No refund.
After a month or so when they pick your EAD/AP applications, they will send you a denial notice for EAD/AP bcoz you don't have a pending I-485 at that time.
After a month or so when they pick your EAD/AP applications, they will send you a denial notice for EAD/AP bcoz you don't have a pending I-485 at that time.
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seattleGC
03-28 05:24 PM
Is part-time H1 and full-time student without F1, a problem with Univ.?
I haven't heard of a case where a person being full time student but on a H1b and doing part-time work. Anyone knows of such?
Can someone after approved I-140 change to F-1? I heard its possible dont know of anyone who has done that.
I haven't heard of a case where a person being full time student but on a H1b and doing part-time work. Anyone knows of such?
Can someone after approved I-140 change to F-1? I heard its possible dont know of anyone who has done that.
more...
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mnq1979
10-23 10:48 AM
Bad idea to leave after two days. He should allow for 3 business days at least and then go to Pak.
I had my visa stamping done in Canada this summer and got the visa in 2 business days. My appointment was Wednesday and got the passport with visa stamped on Friday afternoon . This is the best case scenario.
And yes I'm from Pakistan :)
Ok, thanks for the info...really appreciate it...will let him know to stay atleast 3-4 days and then leave.....by the way did u go to Ottawa for stamping or some place else in canada?
secondly can u please also tell me that if the visa officer told u after ur interview that u would need to come on friday to pick get ur visa stamp or did they jst say that they will inform u? do u remember by any chance that if the visa officer told u that u would have certain # of days to come and stamp ur visa once they inform u that ur visa is ready for stamping?
thanks n sorry for the multi threads !!!!
I had my visa stamping done in Canada this summer and got the visa in 2 business days. My appointment was Wednesday and got the passport with visa stamped on Friday afternoon . This is the best case scenario.
And yes I'm from Pakistan :)
Ok, thanks for the info...really appreciate it...will let him know to stay atleast 3-4 days and then leave.....by the way did u go to Ottawa for stamping or some place else in canada?
secondly can u please also tell me that if the visa officer told u after ur interview that u would need to come on friday to pick get ur visa stamp or did they jst say that they will inform u? do u remember by any chance that if the visa officer told u that u would have certain # of days to come and stamp ur visa once they inform u that ur visa is ready for stamping?
thanks n sorry for the multi threads !!!!
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bskrishna
06-09 11:49 AM
Thanks a lot for the VISA issue....
Cant i travel via Germany to India with stolen visa issue ?
Your travel agent should know if he/she is experienced about transit visa. Amsterdam does not need a transit visa (even with an invalid US visa). Not sure about Frankfurt.
You will need one for sure if you travel via UK. I had some friends who had to go through a lot of difficulty for going back on a B1 visa to India via Heathrow
Cant i travel via Germany to India with stolen visa issue ?
Your travel agent should know if he/she is experienced about transit visa. Amsterdam does not need a transit visa (even with an invalid US visa). Not sure about Frankfurt.
You will need one for sure if you travel via UK. I had some friends who had to go through a lot of difficulty for going back on a B1 visa to India via Heathrow
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saibaba
10-01 11:28 AM
Here I am planning to send following letter: Please suggest me ASAP if any changes. I really appericiate your feedback.
Director,
US BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
P.O. Box 805887
Chicago, IL 60680-4120
ATTN: CRU Supervisor - Case Improperly Returned (I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status on Behalf of xxxxx (the �Petitioner�) based on an Employment based visa petition (I-140)
Dear Sir or Madam,
This application/petition was filed along with the required fees is being returned to me for the following reason.
Reference: I797C, Notice of Action, Receipt number: xxxx
Notice date: September 20, 2007
�Please resubmit your application with the �Copy of your form-I797, (Notice of Action) if the petition has already been filed or approved. (I-140)�
I believe that my application was sent along with the copy of I-140 and I feel that my case is improperly returned.
Originally I have sent my I-485 application based on JULY 2007 VISA BULLETIN to NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER. Here below is my shipping detail:
FedEx Tracking number xxxx
Ship (P/U) date Jun 30, 2007
Delivery date Jul 2, 2007 7:55 AM
Sign for by: R.WILLIAMS
Delivered to: Shipping/Receiving
Service type: FedEx First Overnight
Packaging type: FedEx Pak
Number of pieces 1
Weight: 1.00 lb.
Shipper Information
xxx
Recipient Information
xxx
I have sent my application with the copy of form I-797, (Notice of Action) which was already field and approved on date March 09, 2007. Here below if the detail for the form I-797 for case type I-140.
Case type: I-140 (IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER)
Receipt number: xxxx
Receipt date: December 11, 2006
Notice Date: March 9, 2007
Priority date: October 4, 2006
Petitioner: xxxx
Beneficiary: xxxx
A # xxx
NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER.
I would like to re-submit this application and I am requesting for processing once again.
Please contact me if you need any further information or assistance. Your kind attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
xxxx
Human Resources Manager
xxxxxxx
hi there:
why you are sending it to IL?
Didn't they mention about return address in the returned package?
Director,
US BUREAU OF CITIZENSHIP AND IMMIGRATION SERVICES
P.O. Box 805887
Chicago, IL 60680-4120
ATTN: CRU Supervisor - Case Improperly Returned (I-485 Application to Register Permanent Residence or Adjust Status on Behalf of xxxxx (the �Petitioner�) based on an Employment based visa petition (I-140)
Dear Sir or Madam,
This application/petition was filed along with the required fees is being returned to me for the following reason.
Reference: I797C, Notice of Action, Receipt number: xxxx
Notice date: September 20, 2007
�Please resubmit your application with the �Copy of your form-I797, (Notice of Action) if the petition has already been filed or approved. (I-140)�
I believe that my application was sent along with the copy of I-140 and I feel that my case is improperly returned.
Originally I have sent my I-485 application based on JULY 2007 VISA BULLETIN to NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER. Here below is my shipping detail:
FedEx Tracking number xxxx
Ship (P/U) date Jun 30, 2007
Delivery date Jul 2, 2007 7:55 AM
Sign for by: R.WILLIAMS
Delivered to: Shipping/Receiving
Service type: FedEx First Overnight
Packaging type: FedEx Pak
Number of pieces 1
Weight: 1.00 lb.
Shipper Information
xxx
Recipient Information
xxx
I have sent my application with the copy of form I-797, (Notice of Action) which was already field and approved on date March 09, 2007. Here below if the detail for the form I-797 for case type I-140.
Case type: I-140 (IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR ALIEN WORKER)
Receipt number: xxxx
Receipt date: December 11, 2006
Notice Date: March 9, 2007
Priority date: October 4, 2006
Petitioner: xxxx
Beneficiary: xxxx
A # xxx
NEBRASKA SERVICE CENTER.
I would like to re-submit this application and I am requesting for processing once again.
Please contact me if you need any further information or assistance. Your kind attention to this matter is greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
xxxx
Human Resources Manager
xxxxxxx
hi there:
why you are sending it to IL?
Didn't they mention about return address in the returned package?
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TheHulk
09-11 10:50 AM
I was in a similar situation with EAD
I applied for EAD in November 2008, it got Approved (Card Production Ordered etc) but never rec'd the card.
I raised numerous SR's , spoke to IO' etc. (for 9 Months)
Every IO was very sympathetic but they did not know where my card was.
At last in July 2009 , I spoke to an IO and the said that she would follow it up
The next day, I rec'd an email stating that my Card was sent in November 2008 , since I did not receive it , it might have been lost in the email and If I need EAD, I need to re-apply
After this I spoke to an IO again, she said the case closed - Card lost in email - I need to re-apply.
Anyways... I did not re-apply.
In August 2009 I received my EAD card in the mail :)
I applied for EAD in November 2008, it got Approved (Card Production Ordered etc) but never rec'd the card.
I raised numerous SR's , spoke to IO' etc. (for 9 Months)
Every IO was very sympathetic but they did not know where my card was.
At last in July 2009 , I spoke to an IO and the said that she would follow it up
The next day, I rec'd an email stating that my Card was sent in November 2008 , since I did not receive it , it might have been lost in the email and If I need EAD, I need to re-apply
After this I spoke to an IO again, she said the case closed - Card lost in email - I need to re-apply.
Anyways... I did not re-apply.
In August 2009 I received my EAD card in the mail :)
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logiclife
03-24 04:55 PM
Please dont waste time in engaging into a duel with numbersusa, FAIR, immigrationwatchdog, zazona.com or anyone like that.
As it is, we are short on people who can work with us. I am not against fighting them in principle, but you are fighting an enemy who is not entirely just in our battle but overall immigration battle(legal and illegal).
We have been trying to separete ourselves from illegals, so if we choose to fight an enemy choose someone who is exclusively against legal employment based immigration. Otherwise you are joining a fight that you do not want to be a part of ie the fight of pro or anti Illegal immigration.
MY 2 cents. I think you are choosing an enemy that will make us look like sympathizers of illegals and open borders.
As it is, we are short on people who can work with us. I am not against fighting them in principle, but you are fighting an enemy who is not entirely just in our battle but overall immigration battle(legal and illegal).
We have been trying to separete ourselves from illegals, so if we choose to fight an enemy choose someone who is exclusively against legal employment based immigration. Otherwise you are joining a fight that you do not want to be a part of ie the fight of pro or anti Illegal immigration.
MY 2 cents. I think you are choosing an enemy that will make us look like sympathizers of illegals and open borders.
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GodHelpUs
03-21 10:48 AM
I am really shocked on looking at this article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/21/nyregion/21immigrant.html?hp
An Agent, a Green Card, and a Demand for Sex
Article Tools Sponsored By
By NINA BERNSTEIN
Published: March 21, 2008
No problems so far, the immigration agent told the American citizen and his 22-year-old Colombian wife at her green card interview in December. After he stapled one of their wedding photos to her application for legal permanent residency, he had just one more question: What was her cellphone number?
Skip to next paragraph
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
Isaac R. Baichu, 46, an adjudicator for the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, was arrested after he met with a green card applicant at the Flagship Restaurant, a diner in Queens. He is charged with coercing oral sex from her.
Audio A Secret Recording
Enlarge This Image
Uli Seit for The New York Times
The Flagship Restaurant, where Mr. Baichu met with a green card applicant.
The calls from the agent started three days later. He hinted, she said, at his power to derail her life and deport her relatives, alluding to a brush she had with the law before her marriage. He summoned her to a private meeting. And at noon on Dec. 21, in a parked car on Queens Boulevard, he named his price � not realizing that she was recording everything on the cellphone in her purse.
�I want sex,� he said on the recording. �One or two times. That�s all. You get your green card. You won�t have to see me anymore.�
She reluctantly agreed to a future meeting. But when she tried to leave his car, he demanded oral sex �now,� to �know that you�re serious.� And despite her protests, she said, he got his way.
The 16-minute recording, which the woman first took to The New York Times and then to the Queens district attorney, suggests the vast power of low-level immigration law enforcers, and a growing desperation on the part of immigrants seeking legal status. The aftermath, which included the arrest of an immigration agent last week, underscores the difficulty and danger of making a complaint, even in the rare case when abuse of power may have been caught on tape.
No one knows how widespread sexual blackmail is, but the case echoes other instances of sexual coercion that have surfaced in recent years, including agents criminally charged in Atlanta, Miami and Santa Ana, Calif. And it raises broader questions about the system�s vulnerability to corruption at a time when millions of noncitizens live in a kind of legal no-man�s land, increasingly fearful of seeking the law�s protection.
The agent arrested last week, Isaac R. Baichu, 46, himself an immigrant from Guyana, handled some 8,000 green card applications during his three years as an adjudicator in the Garden City, N.Y., office of United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, part of the federal Department of Homeland Security. He pleaded not guilty to felony and misdemeanor charges of coercing the young woman to perform oral sex, and of promising to help her secure immigration papers in exchange for further sexual favors. If convicted, he will face up to seven years in prison.
His agency has suspended him with pay, and the inspector general of Homeland Security is reviewing his other cases, a spokesman said Wednesday. Prosecutors, who say they recorded a meeting between Mr. Baichu and the woman on March 11 at which he made similar demands for sex, urge any other victims to come forward.
Money, not sex, is the more common currency of corruption in immigration, but according to Congressional testimony in 2006 by Michael Maxwell, former director of the agency�s internal investigations, more than 3,000 backlogged complaints of employee misconduct had gone uninvestigated for lack of staff, including 528 involving criminal allegations.
The agency says it has tripled its investigative staff since then, and counts only 165 serious complaints pending. But it stopped posting an e-mail address and phone number for such complaints last year, said Jan Lane, chief of security and integrity, because it lacks the staff to cull the thousands of mostly irrelevant messages that resulted. Immigrants, she advised, should report wrongdoing to any law enforcement agency they trust.
The young woman in Queens, whose name is being withheld because the authorities consider her the victim of a sex crime, did not even tell her husband what had happened. Two weeks after the meeting in the car, finding no way to make a confidential complaint to the immigration agency and afraid to go to the police, she and two older female relatives took the recording to The Times.
Reasons to Worry
A slim, shy woman who looks like a teenager, she said she had spent recent months baby-sitting for relatives in Queens, crying over the deaths of her two brothers back in Cali, Colombia, and longing for the right stamp in her passport � one that would let her return to the United States if she visited her family.
She came to the United States on a tourist visa in 2004 and overstayed. When she married an American citizen a year ago, the law allowed her to apply to �adjust� her illegal status. But unless her green card application was approved, she could not visit her parents or her brothers� graves and then legally re-enter the United States. And if her application was denied, she would face deportation.
She had another reason to be fearful, and not only for herself. About 15 months ago, she said, an acquaintance hired her and two female relatives in New York to carry $12,000 in cash to the bank. The three women, all living in the country illegally, were arrested on the street by customs officers apparently acting on a tip in a money-laundering investigation. After determining that the women had no useful information, the officers released them.
But the closed investigation file had showed up in the computer when she applied for a green card, Mr. Baichu told her in December; until he obtained the file and dealt with it, her application would not be approved. If she defied him, she feared, he could summon immigration enforcement agents to take her relatives to detention.
So instead of calling the police, she turned on the video recorder in her cellphone, put the phone in her purse and walked to meet the agent. Two family members said they watched anxiously from their parked car as she disappeared behind the tinted windows of his red Lexus.
�We were worried that the guy would take off, take her away and do something to her,� the woman�s widowed sister-in-law said in Spanish.
As the recorder captured the agent�s words and a lilting Guyanese accent, he laid out his terms in an easy, almost paternal style. He would not ask too much, he said: sex �once or twice,� visits to his home in the Bronx, perhaps a link to other Colombians who needed his help with their immigration problems.
In shaky English, the woman expressed reluctance, and questioned how she could be sure he would keep his word.
�If I do it, it�s like very hard for me, because I have my husband, and I really fall in love with him,� she said.
The agent insisted that she had to trust him. �I wouldn�t ask you to do something for me if I can�t do something for you, right?� he said, and reasoned, �Nobody going to help you for nothing,� noting that she had no money.
He described himself as the single father of a 10-year-old daughter, telling her, �I need love, too,� and predicting, �You will get to like me because I�m a nice guy.�
Repeatedly, she responded �O.K.,� without conviction. At one point he thanked her for showing up, saying, �I know you feel very scared.�
Finally, she tried to leave. �Let me go because I tell my husband I come home,� she said.
His reply, the recording shows, was a blunt demand for oral sex.
�Right now? No!� she protested. �No, no, right now I can�t.�
He insisted, cajoled, even empathized. �I came from a different country, too,� he said. �I got my green card just like you.�
Then, she said, he grabbed her. During the speechless minute that follows on the recording, she said she yielded to his demand out of fear that he would use his authority against her.
How Much Corruption?
The charges against Mr. Baichu, who became a United States citizen in 1991 and earns roughly $50,000 a year, appear to be part of a larger pattern, according to government records and interviews.
Mr. Maxwell, the immigration agency�s former chief investigator, told Congress in 2006 that internal corruption was �rampant,� and that employees faced constant temptations to commit crime.
�It is only a small step from granting a discretionary waiver of an eligibility rule to asking for a favor or taking a bribe in exchange for granting that waiver,� he contended. �Once an employee learns he can get away with low-level corruption and still advance up the ranks, he or she becomes more brazen.�
�Despite our best efforts there are always people ready to use their position for personal gain or personal pleasure,� said Chris Bentley, a spokesman for Citizenship and Immigration Services. �Our responsibility is to ferret them out.�
When the Queens woman came to The Times with her recording on Jan. 3, she was afraid of retaliation from the agent, and uncertain about making a criminal complaint, though she had an appointment the next day at the Queens district attorney�s office.
Mr. Baichu was arrested as he emerged from the diner and headed to his car, wearing much gold and diamond jewelry, prosecutors said. Later released on $15,000 bail, Mr. Baichu referred calls for comment to his lawyer, Sally Attia, who said he did not have authority to grant or deny green card petitions without his supervisor�s approval.
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karanp25
08-03 02:10 AM
No worries...i am in same situation...did my FP early this yr. EAD renewal card says "No FP available".
Sorry - did not check this thread till today
My RD was July 11 for both of us - got Ead for me Aug 2 with 2 yr validity
hers is still pending
Mine shows no FP on file even though I did FP in Oct 07 ( less than 1 yr) That kinda worries me
Anyways PD is May 04 EB3 - so long way to go - and besides caring at this point when I see PD of 2006 getting GC
Sorry - did not check this thread till today
My RD was July 11 for both of us - got Ead for me Aug 2 with 2 yr validity
hers is still pending
Mine shows no FP on file even though I did FP in Oct 07 ( less than 1 yr) That kinda worries me
Anyways PD is May 04 EB3 - so long way to go - and besides caring at this point when I see PD of 2006 getting GC
h1bemployee
06-22 01:58 AM
pl somebody answer
jay1ram2
11-23 02:19 PM
Well Said.
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